Blackberry and Almond Crumble

Plump, tart blackberries are one of my favorite things about summer. When I buy them in the morning at the farmers’ market, I usually devour them all before I make it home. On the rare occasions that I manage to save a few, I like to make this crumble. I like my desserts to be simple (mostly because I’m not much of a pastry chef and they’ve got to be simple or I’ll screw them up). This one is about as easy as they come. Chopped almonds (I like to use Marconas) give the topping a great little twist.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

A couple pinches of salt, divided

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup almonds, preferably Marcona, chopped

3 cups fresh blackberries

Zest of 1/2 orange

Juice of 1 orange

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.

Combine the oats, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the almond flour, baking soda and a pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until combined. Remove to a bowl and mix in the chopped almonds.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the blackberries, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and arrange in a baking dish.

Spread the crumble mixture on top of the berries. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Serve alone, or with vanilla ice cream…or better yet, almond ice cream.